The present invention relates to attachments for pads of stabilizers for vehicles and, more particularly, to attachments for stabilizer pads for mobile machinery such as vehicle-mounted back hoes, cranes, shovels or the like.
Conventionally, some types of material-handling apparatus are mounted on vehicle chassis to facilitate movement of the material-handling equipment from one site of a work operation to the next. The vehicle on which the material-handling machine is mounted is usually in the form of a tractor and the machine includes a mounting frame to which is pivoted a swing frame or boom which is also pivoted on a vertical axis for lateral swinging movement relative to the mounting frame of the vehicle. Material-handling or holding means, such as buckets or other implements, are usually carried by the swing frame, or boom, for movement therewith.
Generally, the wheel base of the ground-engaging wheels of the tractor does not provide sufficient stability for the machine, when the machine is in working position. This is particularly true in earth-moving machinery, such as shovels or back hoes, which are adapted to pick up a load in an extended position of the boom relative to the frame of the machinery and the vehicle, and to raise the load and carry the load to a place of disposal, likewise remote from the vehicle. This is accomplished by swinging movement of the swing frame, or boom, of the machine. Since the swinging frame, or boom, of the machinery is usually swingable along an arc subtending approximately 180.degree., the swinging frame, when loaded, tends to unbalance the vehicle, causing the vehicle and machine to be tipped over if no further stabilizing means are provided.
The conventional stabilizing means, particularly for back hoes or other earth-moving machinery, comprise stabilizing arms adapted to be extended from the vehicle or from the frame of the machine. These stabilizing arms are conventionally pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis as well as about a vertical axis and are thus swingable for both vertical and horizontal swinging movement. The stabilizer arms are provided at their free ends with pivotally movable ground-engaging pad members for supporting the stabilizer assembly upon the ground surface when the earth-moving machinery is in an operating position. The stabilizer pad member conventionally comprises a pair of integral or welded brackets which have a pair of holes for receiving a pivot pin. These stabilizer pad members are pivotally connected to the free ends of the stabilizer arms by means of the aforementioned pins. Such pad members have ground-engaging surface which is suitable for contacting only one particular type of ground surface or terrain. When the material-handling apparatus is moved from one construction site to another having a different type of terrain, then it is usually necessary to exchange one type of pad member for another type of pad member adapted to properly engage the new type of terrain found at the new construction site. The major material-handling apparatus manufacturers thus sell a line of ground-engaging pad members which include generally at least 5 different types of pad members. Thus the operator of a material-handling apparatus, such as a back hoe, must purchase 5 different types of ground-engaging pad members for his material-handling machine in order to provide the necessary versatility to the machine to operate in all types of terrain. These various types of stabilizer pad members are not only costly but the dismounting and replacing of such stabilizer pad members from the stabilizer arms is quite time-consuming.